Caesars requests break on Kansas city casino rent

Council members appear generally unaccepting to the request, although some have shown openness to organising a repayment plan.

US.- Caesars Entertainment has asked city authorities for a break on the rent of its Harrah’s Kansas City Hotel & Casino due to the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The manager of the casino, Julie Sola, asked North Kansas City, which owns the property, to pardon $410,000 in rent payments.

Addressing council members, she said: “We were closed for 75 days. And clearly that was very, very hard for us. During this time due to closure, we did not have any revenues. Yet we still had a significant amount of expense.”

Sola said casino admissions were down by 10 per cent and the hotel, which usually operates at 90 per cent occupancy, was at just 65 per cent capacity.

However, financial reports from the Missouri Gaming Commission show Harrah’s has begun to show signs of recovery, with small gains in June, July and August compared with figures from the same months of last year.

Council members were generally not accepting to Caesars’ request, although some did say they were open to considering some form of repayment plan.

Councilman Richard Stewart said “I know it was rough. But it was rough for restaurants and theaters. And so far I don’t think they’ve asked for any tax deduction. That’s the problem I have: What do we tell these people if we pass this?”